This is not my house, but sometimes, it might as well be.Due to my recent, but chronic, frustration of the state of my home workshop, I have decided to spend some time considering what things can be tossed/listed. This process has not been fruitful in the past. I am inclined to think that this is a problem that particularly plagues puppeteers (although I suspect that collagists and found artists have some idea of what I am talking about)...
Q. Can we get rid of the bags of empty paper towel and toilet paper cores?
A. Well, no...we might need to teach a class on using recycled materials for puppet-making, and we won't have time to accumulate that many.
Q. How about that box of leather scraps?
A. NO! Leather is expensive, and Tandy was having a sale! Besides, you don't need that much for a puppet.
Q. OK, what about the packs of wire hangars over there?
A. Those hangars are perfect for the rods on karagiozis. Wal-Mart doesn't carry them anymore. The ones now break too easily, for some reason.
Q. I know, but we don't have any karagiozis shows planned....
A. Yes, but we'll have them when we need them!
And so on, and so forth. You can't get rid of bolts of fabric or felt, because, well, you use it all of the time. You can't get rid of enormous rolls of foam for the same reason. Spoons make eyes, as do ping pong balls. Boxes of feathers and marabou boas take over your life, along with various containers of adhesives, scissors, and sewing equipment. This is to say nothing of lighting equipment, sound equipment, recording equipment, backdrops, props, and a myriad of theatre environments. I moved recently, and will again soon. My friends who helped the last time vowed that they would never help again. They have even offered to pay for professional movers the next time, just to relieve themselves of the task.
I am going to try again, though, to let go of some of this. I am currently completely overwhelmed, and I think that streamlining might be the best thing to cleanse the creative palette. Off I go....Maybe the next time I write, my workshop will look more like this:
Q. Can we get rid of the bags of empty paper towel and toilet paper cores?
A. Well, no...we might need to teach a class on using recycled materials for puppet-making, and we won't have time to accumulate that many.
Q. How about that box of leather scraps?
A. NO! Leather is expensive, and Tandy was having a sale! Besides, you don't need that much for a puppet.
Q. OK, what about the packs of wire hangars over there?
A. Those hangars are perfect for the rods on karagiozis. Wal-Mart doesn't carry them anymore. The ones now break too easily, for some reason.
Q. I know, but we don't have any karagiozis shows planned....
A. Yes, but we'll have them when we need them!
And so on, and so forth. You can't get rid of bolts of fabric or felt, because, well, you use it all of the time. You can't get rid of enormous rolls of foam for the same reason. Spoons make eyes, as do ping pong balls. Boxes of feathers and marabou boas take over your life, along with various containers of adhesives, scissors, and sewing equipment. This is to say nothing of lighting equipment, sound equipment, recording equipment, backdrops, props, and a myriad of theatre environments. I moved recently, and will again soon. My friends who helped the last time vowed that they would never help again. They have even offered to pay for professional movers the next time, just to relieve themselves of the task.
I am going to try again, though, to let go of some of this. I am currently completely overwhelmed, and I think that streamlining might be the best thing to cleanse the creative palette. Off I go....Maybe the next time I write, my workshop will look more like this:
We'll see.
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